


Socks & Sandals

by StormySeaWitch



Category: Glitch Techs (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Joan is the estranged wine aunt, Just Phil is the Tech's dad, Oneshot, no ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:34:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29549376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormySeaWitch/pseuds/StormySeaWitch
Summary: Phil doesn't have any biological kids, but that doesn't mean he's not prime Dad material.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Socks & Sandals

**Author's Note:**

> This is dumb and cute and unedited. Enjoy!

At the end of the workday, Phil always checked up on his Techs before they left. Mostly to make sure he wasn’t actually locking anyone in for the night. He said goodbye to them all as they left through the front door - Zahra climbing into her mum’s old burgundy car, Mitch not even looking up from his phone as he left, Haneesh literally not taking another step unless Phil humoured him with a fist bump. 

They were good kids, and he was somewhat fond of them. A little bit. 

But three… that was one short. 

‘Five?’ Phil called, shutting the glass door and looking for the new recruit. He’d definitely been here because he’d been wired all day. ‘Five?’ 

‘In here!’ 

‘What’re you doing, kid, I’m trying to close up,’ he said, waiting outside the bathroom. 

‘I’m trying to… wait, closing time?’ Five squeaked, pushing open the door with his hip. ‘I’m gonna be late!’ 

Phil raised an eyebrow. The kid was wearing some fancy dacks considering he was just - oh wait. 

‘You got that award thing tonight, right?’ 

Five beamed. ‘Yep!’ he said proudly. ‘I’m getting an award for building a cool bot that made it to a fair. It won third prize!’ 

‘Congrats,’ Phil said, taking the tie from Five’s hands and draping it round his neck. 

‘Thanks! Don’t tell anyone, but my dad helped me with my idea,’ Five grinned, standing still while Phil started the process of tying up the tie. 

‘I won’t tell anyone,’ he promised. ‘How’re you getting to the school?’ 

‘Riding my bike and meeting my family there,’ Five said, checking his watch. 

‘I’ll give you a ride,’ the manager offered, tucking the knot of the tie under Five’s collar. ‘Don’t want you getting all weird and sweaty before you go on stage, right?’ 

‘Really?’ Five asked, a huge smile on his face. ‘You’re the best Phil, thank you!’ 

‘Yeah yeah, get your stuff, or you really will be late.’ 

Five chattered about his bot the whole way to the school, and Phil sent him off with a wave. They got there in plenty of time, and Phil couldn’t help but smile as he drove himself home, BITT bumping around in the back seat. 

#

Phil loved lunch. It was a highlight of his day, because usually no one would interrupt him. He could sit and eat and watch his shows in peace, and for a moment pretend that he didn’t have to worry about video game villains terrorising his hometown. 

The bakery between his home and the store knew him well. Every morning he ordered a coffee, a danish for breakfast, and then whatever they decided to surprise him with for lunch. Sometimes a crepe, or a sandwich, or a spiced veggie pasty. Today they’d wrapped up a little cottage pie and a  _ beesting.  _

Thanking the pastry gods for the delicious treat, Phil reached for his tablet, ready to fire up his soaps. 

_ Knock-knock _ . 

‘Who is it?’ he called, trying not to sound disappointed. 

‘It’s Miko.’

‘What’s up Miko?’

The new recruit poked her head in the doorway. ‘Is the vending machine broken?’ she asked. 

‘Yes,’ Phil replied, leaning back in his chair. ‘That’s why it has a big “out of order” sign on it.’ 

Miko groaned. ‘Okay, thanks anyway.’ 

‘Nuh uh, hang on,’ Phil called, leaning forward on his desk. ‘Come in here. What’s going on?’

‘I left my bag at home,’ Miko confessed. ‘My lunch, my wallet… and I don’t have enough time to go home for lunch.’ 

‘Where’s Five?’

‘Went home.’ 

Phil rolled his eyes. ‘Here, have this,’ he said, cutting the pie in half and putting it on the plate. Then he sliced the beesting in half as well, giving her the smaller half because, well, it  _ was  _ a beesting. 

‘Really? Are you sure?’ she asked. 

‘Do you think I’d have cut it in half if I wasn’t sure?’ he asked, shoving his hand in his trouser pocket and pulling out some loose change. ‘Take that as well, the drinks machine is still running. Only the snack one is busted.’ 

‘Thanks Phil,’ Miko beamed, taking the plate of food. ‘I owe you a week of closes.’ 

‘I’ll hold you to that,’ he called after her. 

No, he wouldn’t. 

#

‘Slow morning?’ Phil asked the room, despite already knowing the answer. 

The Techs collectively murmured a confirmation. Mitch was on his phone, Miko was racing Haneesh on one of the consoles while Five lounged by her feet reading a book. Zahra was sitting on her own with one headphone in her ear, twirling a pen around her fingers. 

‘Studying?’ Phil asked as he passed, and she looked up at him with a smile. 

‘I have a test on Monday,’ she replied, leaning back so he could look at the equations on her page. ‘I probably left the actual studying a little late but it doesn’t matter, I can’t make any sense of it anyway.’ 

Phil pulled out the chair beside her and pulled the pages closer to him. ‘Let’s have a look,’ he said, scanning the numbers on the page. ‘Ah, physics. Pickin’ the smart kid subjects, huh?’ 

‘I thought it would be interesting,’ Zahra said with a shrug. ‘And it is… it’s just also difficult to understand the way the teacher is explaining it.’ 

‘Yeah that’s no good,’ Phil mumbled, making some marks with a pencil. ‘So you’ve got the concept down, you’re just… the numbers are a little off, see here?’ 

Zahra watched him make notes with bright eyes, and he could see her putting the steps together in her mind. When he was done, he slid the page back over to her so that she could study it properly. 

‘Does that make sense?’ he asked. 

‘Yes!’ she said with a smile. ‘They didn’t teach us that method of working it out, but it makes so much more sense.’

‘Yeah, they make the curriculum harder for every generation, but the old way works just fine,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Try it with that method, and if you get stuck come and find me.’ 

‘Thanks Phil,’ she said. 

‘And Zahra,’ he added, pushing in the chair. ‘If you need time off to study for a test… you just have to ask, y’know?’ 

The teenager just laughed awkwardly, probably out of embarrassment. ‘I will.’ 

‘Good.’ 

She came into work on Tuesday brandishing a test with a B+ on the top corner, and a note scrawled underneath about ‘unorthodox methods’. 

#

‘Are you actually wearing socks and sandals?’ Haneesh grinned, leaning on the counter. 

Phil looked down and inwardly cursed. ‘I wasn’t expecting to get called in today on my one day off,’ he replied. ‘But yes. Nothing wrong with that, is there?’ 

‘You’re such a dad,’ Haneesh laughed, stepping around the counter to follow Phil into the loading bay. ‘Anyway, the delivery is totally wrecked, and I wasn’t sure what to do.’ 

‘You did the right thing, we can’t accept it,’ Phil explained. ‘I need to speak with the Head Office, who will talk to logistics, yadda yadda, long boring process. But it means we’re out of a lot of stock for the next week at least.’ 

Haneesh went to answer, but a nasty sneeze interrupted him. ‘Ugh, sorry. Uh, what do you need me to do?’ 

‘Grab the camera from my office and we’ll take photos of the pallet,’ Phil said, eyeing the young tech warily. ‘Are you okay?’ 

‘Yeah,’ Haneesh replied, waving his hand. ‘Just a cold. I’ll be fine.’ 

‘You really shouldn’t be at work while you’re sick,’ the manager admonished, but Haneesh just laughed as he left the loading dock and made his way to the office.

The stock had clearly been treated roughly; most of the boxes were damaged and when he opened one of the game cases the disc inside was snapped clean in two. 

Haneesh came back with the camera, coughing into his elbow as he did so. ‘Got it,’ he croaked. ‘You need photos of all this stuff?’ 

‘Uh… yeah. Make sure you get the split plastic on this side, and the busted boxes. There’s a copy of Rogues over there that’s been snapped as well, maybe take a photo of that. Basically we want to prove that the shipping company was careless and that it didn’t happen here in store.’ 

‘Got it, boss,’ the teen said with a salute. 

‘I’ll be back in a second,’ Phil told him, then made for the kitchen. 

The store didn’t have an electric kettle, but rather a large wall-mounted urn that provided boiling water. He whistled to himself while he moved around the room, building himself a coffee and another mug of ginger tea. 

He stirred in a spoonful of honey - heaped, since he knew Haneesh liked sweet things - and added a slice of lemon. 

Carrying both mugs back to the loading bay, he found Haneesh going through the photos. 

‘Okay, I’ve taken a heap of the outside, just need the boxes and the broken games,’ he explained, looking up. 

‘Take this, go to the lounge and sit down,’ Phil told him, handing the mug of tea over. ‘You’re sick and you need to call someone to come pick you up.’ 

‘Are you sure?’ Haneesh asked. 

‘I’m very sure I don’t want snot all over my counter. Go on, I’ll take care of this.’ 

Haneesh just sighed heavily, like he’d been pretending to be fine all day. ‘Thanks Phil,’ he breathed, his shoulders sagging in relief. ‘I feel like I’ve been run over with a truck.’ 

‘Call your mum,’ Phil demanded. ‘Just let me know when she’s here and you’re leaving.’ 

‘Will do.’ 

‘Tell her I said hello.’

Haneesh laughed. ‘Will do,’ he repeated warmly, sipping at the tea. 

#

‘Bailley Hinobi Store, Phil speaking,’ the manager said, his tone barely scraping the bottom of the customer service voice barrel. 

‘Phil! Hi, it’s Bergy,’ came a squeaky voice on the other end. 

‘Bergy,’ Phil greeted, instantly glad that it wasn’t a customer. ‘Where are you? You’re late.’ 

‘I’m sorry, my car has broken down and my parents aren’t answering their phones,’ Bergy replied, his voice cracking from stress. 

‘What’s wrong with it?’ Phil asked, frowning. 

‘Uhhhh… I don’t know?’ 

Phil sighed. Kids these days, owning cars and not knowing how to look after them. ‘Can you turn it on? Is it in a safe place? Is it smoking? Making funny sounds?’ 

‘It’s in a safe place, I pulled over to the side of the road,’ Bergy explained. 

Phil could just imagine him, sitting on the grass on the side of the road. If his mobile had a cord, he’d be twisting it around his fingers. 

‘It made a weird clunking sound, and then white smoke came out of the exhaust. I pulled over and I’m too scared to turn it back on in case I explode.’ 

Phil couldn’t help but laugh. ‘You probably won’t explode. Where are you stuck?’ 

‘I’m opposite the community pool.’

‘Sit tight, I’ll be ten minutes.’ 

‘Okay, thanks Phil.’ 

Phil sighed and grabbed his keys off their hook. The Techs in the store were just talking amongst themselves at the counter, and he whistled sharply to get their attention. 

‘I’m going out, need to rescue Bergy, his car broke down,’ he said quickly, pulling on a jacket. He made direct eye contact with Mitch, then Miko… then thought better of it. ‘Haneesh is in charge.’ 

‘Seriously?’ Mitch grumbled. 

‘Seriously. Miko, can you stay a little later? You can go as soon as I get back here with Bergy.’

‘Sure thing, boss!’ she said with a salute. ‘Officer Miko reporting for duty.’ 

‘Report to Haneesh. Don’t burn down my store,’ he added as an afterthought before racing out the door. 

It only took him ten minutes to find Bergy, sitting on the grass just like he’d expected him to be. 

‘Phil!’ he greeted with a wave of his hand, his keys looped around his thumb. 

‘What’ve you done to it?’ Phil asked good naturedly, putting his hazard lights on and parking behind Bergy on the nature strip. 

‘It went  _ clunk  _ and then made a grinding sound and it was puffing out white smoke for a bit but that’s clearly stopped,’ Bergy explained, getting to his feet and brushing off his backside. 

‘Alrighty, let’s have a look,’ he said, lifting the bonnet to examine the engine. ‘Okay, can you smell that? You just overheated it, nothing serious.’ 

Bergy nodded along as Phil pointed out the signs of overheating. 

‘Since you’ve been sitting here for a while it’s had a chance to calm down a smidge, but we’ll top up your coolant and get you to Hinobi and I’ll call someone to come check it out.’ 

‘I don’t have any coolant,’ Bergy piped up. ‘Only water.’ 

‘I got some,’ Phil said, handing the kid his keys. ‘Grab it out of the back, it’s the green stuff. Usually you should stick with the same type but if it’s just to get you to work it’ll be fine.’ 

Bergy returned with the huge bottle and put it down heavily on the grass. Phil tried very hard not to laugh a little at the kid’s look of intense concentration as he explained how to top up the coolant. 

‘You gonna be okay to drive back?’ he asked eventually. 

‘Sure,’ Bergy replied, his voice breaking a little in that way that it always did when he wasn’t confident. 

Phil sighed and handed Bergy his keys. ‘You drive my car, I’ll drive yours. As soon as you get to the store, call the number on the sticker on my windscreen and get them to come to the store. Okay?’ 

‘Okay,’ Bergy chirped, his relief obvious. ‘Thanks Phil.’ 

‘No stress kid. Get going, you’re very late and Miko’s covering your butt.’

‘Oh okay.’ 

Phil watched Bergy mess with his chair and his mirrors, then count down from ten to calm himself before pulling back out onto the road. As soon as his car was out of sight, Phil clambered into Bergy’s stuffy old car and turned the key in the ignition. 

The temp gauge was staying at a level point, so he pulled out onto the road and followed Bergy back to Hinobi. 

#

Some days it felt like Phil had blinked, and that scrawny, funny 14-year-old Mitch Williams he’d hired had grown into a young adult overnight. Granted, a bit of a self-important, shit-stirring little weasel of a young adult, but y’know. 

Most days Mitch didn’t need him for much. If Phil had come down with a sudden and terrible case of pneumonia and couldn’t leave his bed for six weeks, he knew that Mitch would be able to handle the store. Since moving out of home, his family life had been easier for him to manage - healthy distance and all that. 

So Mitch Williams knocking -  _ knocking,  _ instead of just waltzing in! The world must be ending - to come into his office, on a Friday night wasn’t something he was expecting or something he was prepared for. 

‘Come in,’ he called without looking up from his keyboard. 

‘Hi,’ Mitch said, sticking his head into the room. ‘Can I talk to you for a sec?’ 

‘Sure,’ Phil replied. ‘Lemme finish this email real quick. Joan from Dabney wants to know if we have any available techs to cover a shift this Saturday - you want it?’ 

‘No thanks.’ Mitch looked down at the chair opposite Phil’s desk as if he was deciding whether it would be more comfortable to sit or stand. ‘I uh… I have a date.’

_ Well _ . 

‘A  _ date  _ you say,’ Phil hummed, leaving the email unfinished and spinning to face his employee directly. ‘That’s fun. First date?’ 

‘Yeah.’

‘Nervous?’

‘Yeah,’ Mitch said with a little frown, as if the thought of being nervous about something irritated him. ‘I don’t know what to do.’ 

Phil felt his eyebrows rise. ‘On a date?’ 

‘I’ve never been on one before!’ Mitch cried in response, gesturing with his hands. 

The manager couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Okay, you’re overthinking all of this. Who asked who out in the first place?’ 

‘He asked me,’ Mitch said, shoulders sagging. 

Phil regarded him for a heartbeat. ‘Then you don’t need to  _ do  _ anything except show up,’ he said after a moment. ‘He asked you out, he’s the one planning the date.’ 

‘But what if I’m too me and he hates it,’ Mitch asked, reaching for one of the hard lollies that Phil always kept on his desk. 

‘Mitch,’ the manager sighed. ‘If he doesn’t like you when you’re being yourself, then he’s not right for you.’ 

‘Well  _ that  _ sucks because everyone hates me when I “be myself” usually,’ the Tech grumbled, pushing his hair back off his face. 

‘Maybe quit being a little weasel,’ Phil offered, clearly teasing. ‘I’m kidding. This’ll be good for you. Just let it happen.’ 

Mitch nodded and got to his feet. He hesitated by the door. ‘And uh… you don’t mind? That it’s… a guy?’ 

Phil rolled his eyes. ‘Do you have any more stupid questions, or can I go back to telling Joan from Dabney how great you all are? Go do your job.’ 

A hint of smile tugged at Mitch’s mouth, and he left the office without another word. 

#

Phil had come down with a sudden and terrible case of pneumonia and couldn’t leave his bed for six weeks. 

Well, no.

Phil had come down with a sudden and terrible case of the common cold, and his doctor had suggested bed rest for all of one week. 

By right of the management hierarchy, Nix had taken over Phil’s role - it wasn’t the first time. Usually Nix was in charge on his days off. 

But this was the first time Phil would be away for so many consecutive days. 

It had been five hours into the first day and he was already sick of the Hinobi hold music. 

‘ _ Hinobi Story Bailley, you’re speaking with Nix-’ _

‘Nix!’ Phil said brightly, a cough tickling the back of his throat. ‘It’s me again.’ 

Nix sighed. ‘ _ What’s up Phil? _ ’ 

‘Have you checked the stock levels for the Prism console-’

‘ _ Yes Phil. Just sit back and work on getting better. Watch your shows. You gotta stop checking up on us, we’ve got this.’  _

‘I know you do,’ Phil sighed, reaching for a tissue. ‘But… are you  _ sure  _ you’ve got this?’ 

‘ _ You trust us, right? We won’t burn down the store, and I promise we’ll call you if anything goes wrong. _ ’ 

Phil harrumphed and wiped his nose. ‘Okay… fine.’ 

‘ _ Thanks Phil. I hope you feel better,’  _ Nix said. 

Phil listened until Nix hung up the phone, then sighed, leaning back into his pillows. 

Trust them. 

He turned on his tv and reached for the herbal tea he’d prepared earlier. He could trust them. 

#

‘Phillip.’ 

Ah, he’d know that sarcastic, condescending drawl anywhere. 

‘Joan,’ he greeted in a deadpan. ‘You’ve already taken my first born, what more could you want?’ 

Joan smirked in response. ‘Did you forget?’ 

‘Of course not,’ he replied, checking that his keys were in his pocket. ‘Can’t just let you walk in here without any kind of banter, can I?’ 

Joan snorted, but followed Phil to his office. 

‘Coffee?’ 

‘No thank you. Just here to discuss Tech stats and then I’ll be going back to Dabney.’ 

‘Suit yourself,’ Phil said with a shrug, ducking into the break room to rinse his mug and pour some of the lifesaving liquid into it. The breakroom whiteboard had a tally drawn on it, keeping track of all the times he'd apparently called them to fuss when he was sick. 

‘I thought you didn’t have any kids,’ Joan commented as she sat opposite Phil’s desk. 

‘Hm?’

‘The mug.’ 

He looked down at the porcelain in his hand. 

_ “World’s Best Gamer Dad _ ”

‘Course I have kids,’ Phil said with a smile, scratching his beard. ‘There they are.’ 

He pointed to the framed photo up on the wall of him and all the Bailley Techs at the previous year’s holiday party. 

‘Family can be made,’ he said with a shrug, sipping coffee with a little spike of pride in his heart. 

‘Family can be made,’ Joan agreed. 

The Bailley Gamer Dad and the estranged, Dabney wine Aunt could at least agree on something. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Please note that I know nothing about maintaining cars, do not pay heed to any of my advice I don't know if it's right.   
> Comments are appreciated! I hope you're all staying safe with Covid and other things.  
> x Stormy.


End file.
